The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Test automation is the use of software to control the execution of tests, the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes, the setting up of test preconditions, and other test control and test reporting functions. A test automation framework is not a single tool to perform some specific testing task, but a set of tools that provide support for automated software testing in a unified manner, thereby providing a common platform for an automation engineer to do a job. A test automation framework integrates function libraries, test data sources, object details and various reusable modules. A test automation framework is responsible for defining the format in which to express expectations, creating a mechanism to drive an application being tested, executing the tests, and reporting the results. If there is change to any test case for an application that is being tested, only the test case file needs to be updated, such that the driver script and startup script remain the same.